All The Wiser...

…but all the poorer too. José learns the hard way what not to do when buying a D3 at an ‘unbeatable’ price

- Jose Almeida

I’ve had a soft spot for the Discovery from Day One back in 1989, but the softest spot of all is the one I have for the Disco 3. I long dreamed of owning one, but the sky-high prices in Portugal put the mockers on that.

So instead, I scratched my Disco itch by buying a 1997 300Tdi Camel Trophy Discovery 1 in early 2013; and then in January 2016, I added a 2001 Discovery 2 Td5 to the mini-fleet.

Then I started thinking: if I were prepared to slim down from two Land Rovers to one, I could make that D3 dream come true.

It wasn’t an easy decision, but I made it. And after many long hours of searching, I found a fine-looking 2006 TDV6 HSE that ticked all the boxes and seemed just perfect for me, especially considering the reasonable mileage and the unbeatable price tag; £22,150. If only I’d known then what I know now.